Read the following passage.
A. The colony of British Columbia was created in 1858, after some 30,000 gold seekers rushed to the Fraser River. When the Dominion of Canada was formed in 1867, British Columbians argued over joining it, and the purchase of Alaska by the United States that year raised fears that the Americans would try to annex the colony. In 1868 the newspaper publisher Amor De Cosmos founded the Confederation League, whose delegates met at Yale and asked for a wagon road to the east. Indigenous people had little or no say in these debates, and Joseph Trutch, the chief commissioner of lands, refused to negotiate treaties with First Nations.
B. Governor Frederick Seymour, who had opposed joining Canada, died in 1869, and his replacement, Anthony Musgrave, supported union. Canada agreed to take over the colony's debt, give it three senators and six members of Parliament, and build a railway to the Pacific coast within 10 years. British Columbia became the sixth province on 20 July 1871. The railway charter went to Sir Hugh Allan in 1872, but in 1873 it became known that he had given about $350,000 to the Conservative election campaign, and Macdonald's government was forced to resign. Construction finally began in 1878.
C. The Canadian Pacific Railway company was incorporated in 1881 and received $25 million in cash and 25 million acres of land. Under general manager William Van Horne, construction was pressed rapidly across the plains, and in the Selkirks the line crossed Rogers Pass, an essential but perilous link where snowy winters brought deadly avalanches. More than 15,000 Chinese labourers worked on the railway in harsh conditions for little pay, and historians estimate that at least 600 of them died. On 7 November 1885, company director Donald Smith drove the last spike at Craigellachie, near Eagle Pass, at a modest ceremony with no reporters and no politicians.
D. For many years, writers treated the railway as the project that made Canada possible, and Pierre Berton called it the "national dream." The last spike photographs became some of the best known images in Canadian history. Van Horne himself took a plainer view, insisting that the line was built to make money for its shareholders rather than to build a nation. Historians also point to what the pictures leave out. No Chinese labourer appears in them, and in 1885 a new law made Chinese immigrants pay a $50 head tax to enter Canada. Land for the railway was gained partly through the Numbered Treaties, whose terms remain contested.
E. Not given in any of the above paragraphs.
Decide which paragraph, A to D, has the information given in each statement below. Select E if the information is not given in any of the paragraphs.
AI explanationShows the answer. Tap to open.
Correct Answer: B
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph B: it opens with Governor Seymour, who had opposed joining Canada. He died in 1869, and the man who replaced him, Musgrave, supported union. So a death removed someone who stood in the way.
Passage Reference: Governor Frederick Seymour, who had opposed joining Canada, died in 1869, and his replacement, Anthony Musgrave, supported union.
Tips: Find an official who was against 'joining Canada'. Then check what happened to him and who came next.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A follows the early debate about joining Canada. The one official it names, Trutch, is remembered for refusing treaties, and nobody dies there.
- C: Paragraph C is about building the line in the 1880s. The people named there, Van Horne and Donald Smith, are railway men, not officials against union.
- D: The fourth paragraph weighs how the railway has been judged since. No official's death, and no change of governor, appears there.
- E: The governor who opposed union, and his death in 1869, are reported in paragraph B. So is the pro-union man who replaced him.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: Van Horne himself took a plainer view, insisting that the line was built to make money for its shareholders rather than to build a nation.
Why this is correct: Notice that paragraph D says Van Horne took a plainer view than the writers who praised the railway. He insisted it was built to make money for shareholders, not to build a nation. A business venture is one run for profit.
Tips: Van Horne is named twice. Find the paragraph that reports what he thought, not just what he did.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A covers the colony before it joined Canada. Van Horne and the purpose of the railway company do not come up.
- B: Paragraph B tells how a railway was promised and how the first charter collapsed in scandal. Van Horne is not part of that story.
- C: Van Horne appears in Paragraph C only as the manager who pushed track across the plains. His opinion about why the line was built is not given there.
- E: Van Horne's own view of the railway, money for shareholders instead of nation building, is set out in Paragraph D.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: In 1868 the newspaper publisher Amor De Cosmos founded the Confederation League, whose delegates met at Yale and asked for a wagon road to the east.
Why this is correct: Look at paragraph A: it says Amor De Cosmos founded the Confederation League in 1868 and that its delegates met at Yale. It never says where the League's money came from, and no merchants are mentioned.
Tips: A founder is named for the League. Check whether anyone is named as paying for it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: The first paragraph is the closest: it names the League's founder and its meeting at Yale. Who funded the League is left out.
- B: Notice that paragraph B moves on to the terms agreed in Ottawa. Money appears there only as the colony's debt and Allan's gift to a party.
- C: The railway company's cash and land grant fill Paragraph C. The Confederation League is not mentioned.
- D: Look at paragraph D: it looks back on the railway's reputation and never returns to the League or its supporters.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: When the Dominion of Canada was formed in 1867, British Columbians argued over joining it, and the purchase of Alaska by the United States that year raised fears that the Americans would try to annex the colony.
Why this is correct: The United States purchased Alaska in 1867, as paragraph A explains. British Columbians then feared the Americans would try to annex the colony. Buying is purchasing, and fear is a strong kind of anxiety.
Tips: The statement is about a land sale that made people in British Columbia anxious. Check who bought the land, and what worried people about it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: Paragraph B deals with the terms of union and the Allan scandal. The United States and any fear of a takeover are missing.
- C: The third paragraph follows the building of the line from 1881. There is no worry about another country there.
- D: Notice that paragraph D judges the railway in hindsight and does not mention the United States at all.
- E: The worry that followed the Alaska purchase is part of the colony's early debate in Paragraph A.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: On 7 November 1885, company director Donald Smith drove the last spike at Craigellachie, near Eagle Pass, at a modest ceremony with no reporters and no politicians.
Why this is correct: Paragraph C says the last spike was driven at a modest ceremony with no reporters and no politicians. It tells us who was missing but never says why, and it does not mention any secret date.
Tips: Paragraph C says who was absent. Check whether it also says why.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Look at paragraph A: it ends in 1868 with the League and Trutch, long before any spike was driven.
- B: The second paragraph covers the terms of union, the Allan scandal and the start of work in 1878. It has nothing about the final ceremony.
- C: Notice that paragraph C is the nearest, since it says no reporters came. It gives no reason for that, so the secret date is not stated.
- D: Look at paragraph D: it discusses the last spike photographs and what they leave out, not why reporters were absent.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: Indigenous people had little or no say in these debates, and Joseph Trutch, the chief commissioner of lands, refused to negotiate treaties with First Nations.
Why this is correct: In paragraph A, the writer says Indigenous people had little or no say in the debates about joining Canada. Trutch also refused to negotiate treaties with First Nations. Having almost no voice matches having little or no say.
Tips: 'Almost no voice' means they could hardly speak up. Look for the time British Columbia's future was being decided.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: Paragraph B lists what Canada promised the colony. Indigenous people are not part of that bargain as told there.
- C: The third paragraph describes the Chinese labourers and the mountain route, not the part Indigenous people played in any decision.
- D: Notice that paragraph D mentions the Numbered Treaties. But it says their terms are contested today, not that First Nations were shut out of the colony's debate.
- E: Indigenous people having little or no say in the debate over joining Canada is reported at the end of Paragraph A.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: No Chinese labourer appears in them, and in 1885 a new law made Chinese immigrants pay a $50 head tax to enter Canada.
Why this is correct: In paragraph D, the writer says that a law of 1885 made Chinese immigrants pay a $50 head tax to enter Canada. A head tax is the special charge the statement means.
Tips: Find the rule for 'people arriving from China'. Check that they had to pay 'to come into Canada'.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A has 30,000 gold seekers rushing to the Fraser River in 1858, but no one pays to come in.
- B: Look at paragraph B: it names payments in the Confederation deal and the Allan affair. No charge on newcomers is included.
- C: The third paragraph says Chinese labourers worked on the line for little pay. It describes their work and deaths, not a fee to enter the country.
- E: The $50 head tax on Chinese immigrants appears in Paragraph D, in the part about what the old pictures leave out.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: More than 15,000 Chinese labourers worked on the railway in harsh conditions for little pay, and historians estimate that at least 600 of them died.
Why this is correct: Notice that paragraph C says more than 15,000 Chinese labourers worked on the railway. Historians estimate at least 600 of them died. At least 600 deaths is hundreds of lives lost.
Tips: Chinese workers appear in two paragraphs. Only one of them says how many died, so check whether that number fits the statement.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A is set before any construction, in the colony's gold rush and Confederation years.
- B: In paragraph B, the writer says building finally began in 1878 but gives no details of the workers or any deaths.
- D: Paragraph D notes that Chinese labourers are missing from the photographs and describes the head tax. It gives no number of deaths.
- E: The estimate that at least 600 Chinese labourers died is part of Paragraph C's account of the work.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: No Chinese labourer appears in them, and in 1885 a new law made Chinese immigrants pay a $50 head tax to enter Canada.
Why this is correct: The fourth paragraph says a law in 1885 made Chinese immigrants pay a $50 head tax. The passage stops there. It says nothing about the amount changing afterwards, so later increases are not given.
Tips: Notice that paragraph D gives one amount in one year. Ask whether any later change is described.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Notice that paragraph A records newcomers arriving for gold in 1858, long before any tax on immigrants.
- B: Paragraph B is about the terms of 1871 and the scandal of 1873, with no immigration tax at all.
- C: Look at paragraph C: it describes Chinese labourers on the railway but no tax on them or on later arrivals.
- D: The fourth paragraph is the nearest because it names the tax and its first amount. Whether the amount went up later is not stated.
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